EDUCATE GIRLS, END POVERTY - TRANSITION (EGEP-T)

EGEP-T aims to increase girls’ learning in numeracy, literacy and life skills, whilst supporting them through key transition points in education and beyond to improved life opportunities. The project will also be developing community and institutional capacity to ensure support to girls’ education is sustained in the longer term. EGEP saw significant progress regarding community members’ expectations of girls about girls’ education between baseline and midline. General support for girls’ education increased by 27% across community members surveyed and the percentage of caregivers stating gender to be an important factor determining whether a child should go to school declined from 54% to 9%. Respondents frequently noted that community members themselves are engaging in awareness-raising activities. School enrolment increased by 20% and attendance increased by 5%, which suggests this positive shift in attitudes has led to positive results in school. Learning levels increased, however, they did not reach the intended targets. 37% of girls who enter secondary school have dropped out by Form 4. A contributing factor behind these less positive trends appears to be that the aspirations of caregivers and communities for girls’ education can be at odds with the considerable expectations placed on girls in terms of traditionally assigned gender roles. EGEP conducted 70 FGDs with girls, asking them what the most critical challenges were that lead to girls’ decreased participation in school in later grades: after economic factors, the most common response was early marriage, and the third most common response was household chores. Additionally, girls are often expected to prioritise care of siblings or contribution to household income over schooling and homework. These expectations intensify as the girl reaches adolescence. Furthermore, within the school, girls are not necessarily expected to achieve at the same level as boys, to hold leadership positions, and to complete the full education cycle. The table below provides examples of severely marginalised groups of girls the project will target, the current expectations for these groups and how they differ from what the project intends to achieve: